This week’s highlights, with commentary from the NFNT gang:
Sumo (First Second, 9781596435810)
Jack: Sumo is an excellent little book that is sure to have a long life in libraryland. It’s the first book written by Thien Pham, who previously contributed art to Gene Yang’s Level Up. Sumo is the story of a young man who is feeling adrift in his young adulthood and, in the wake of a painful break-up, decides to move to Japan to try to become a professional sumo wrestler. The premise sounds goofy, but the book is actually a quiet, serious, and very personal affair. Pham’s art here is leaps and bounds beyond his work on Level Up, eschewing his sketchier style there for strong lines and bold color choices. This is a lovely little book about growing up that should find an audience among older teens and adults who like indie books.
Snow: I’m with Jack on this one. Sumo’s a quiet little story, but it really grabbed my heart.
Eva: SUMO! Sumo, Sumo, Sumo! For all the reasons Jack said (Jack is very smart).
Abby: After all of you talking about Sumo, I grabbed it off our processing shelves to check it out (don’t tell on me). It was fantastic!! And I really want to see a sumo match now.
Jenny: All your yippies for Sumo have made me place it on hold for myself….
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 Library Volume 3 (Dark Horse, 9781595829788)
Michael: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 gives me (and many others) mixed feelings. It’s not a great story, but it’s not awful. And it is really interesting to see what sort of stories happen when the creative team isn’t restricted by a TV budget. In this volume we get to see what happens when a vampire plays on the public perception of vampires of misunderstood loners to make Buffy and her army of Slayers look like a group of racists hunting down a misunderstood minority, even though that’s far from the truth. So Buffy and her Slayers have to deal with that, all while on the run from their mysterious enemy, Twilight (who was named when they started writing season 8, well before that sees of books came out).
Grandville: Bete Noir (Dark Horse, 9781595828903)
Jennifer: I’m excited about a new Grandville. I really loved the first two volumes and convinced our director to buy them for the adult collection. I love the combination of Wind in the Willows animals, Sherlock Holmesish mysteries, and the extra depth Talbot brings to the stories.
Journey into Mystery Volume 4: Manchester Gods (Marvel, 9780785161073)
Michael: Manchester Gods was my favorite arc of Kieron Gillen’s superb run of Journey Into Mystery. Basically England’s old Gods (like King Arthur) are fighting with it’s new ones (like steam power). Asgardia has a treaty to help England so Kid Loki is told to go solve the problem. He solves it in his own unique way. And while it’s done with a minimum of violence and helps strengthen Asgardia, he still gets in trouble. Because he’s Loki. Which leads to one of my favorite line (paraphrased) “If you don’t like how I solve problems, stop calling on me to solve them.” It’s worth reading if only because you get to see Kid Loki in a Guy Fawkes mask.
Kaoru Mori: Anything and Something (Yen Press, 9780316229135)
Jenny: I love Kaoru Mori’s independent, unpredictable female leads and her penchant for rich detail, so I’m definitely looking forward to reading her Anything & Something collection of shorts.
Kekkaishi Volume 35 (Viz, 9781421542713)
Jenny: I’m only a few volumes behind now on Kekkaishi and can’t wait for my holds to come in so I can get caught up. I want to know what happens!
Pandora Hearts Volume 13 (Yen Press, 9780316197335)
Jenny: Pandora Hearts’ appealing art and complicated fantastical / psychological plot demand you pay attention, but they’re worth the effort for the payoff in character and twisty keep-you-guessing revelations.
Vladimir Tod: Eighth Grade Bites GN (Dial Books, 9780803738119)
Jennifer: Vladmir Tod has been a very popular series, but I don’t see an audience for a graphic adaptation. I don’t really see an audience for about 98% of the graphic adaptations they’re churning out nowadays.
Wallflower Volume 29 (Kodansha, 9781612622415)
Jenny: Wallflower is 99% ridiculousness and 1% semi-drama. Or maybe a fraction of 1%. The previous volume in this series about a supremely awkward goth girl and her four beauteous boy mansionmates fell just a wee bit short of its predecessors in originality and encouragement of involuntary snorts of amusement, but even at its most mediocre it’s still good for a laugh and I’m always eager to snag the next one. Hopefully 29 is a return to form!
Snow: WALLFLOWER! How did I miss that? *runs out to local bookstore asap*
AND NOW FOR THE COMPLETE LIST
The following list of new releases is compiled from Diamond Comic Distributors’ complete weekly shipping list and Anime News Network’s Releases encyclopedia
Graphic Novels:
Alternative Comics
- HUMOR CAN BE FUNNY TP
- MAGIC WHISTLE TP VOL 09
Anomaly Productions
- ANOMALY HC
Arcana Studio
- BECOMING GN
- CREEPSVILLE GN
- DEADLY HARVEST GN
- JOHN HENRY STEAM AGE GN
Archaia
- OLD CITY BLUES LEATHER BOUND ED HC
- RUST HC VOL 02
- SPACE 1999 AFTERSHOCK & AWE
Archie Comics
- MEGA MAN TP VOL 04 SPIRITUS EX MACHINA
Avatar
- FERALS VOL 01
BOOM! Studios
- EXILE ON PLANET O/T APES TP VOL 01
- GARFIELD TP VOL 01
Dark Horse
- ADVENTURES OF DR MCNINJA TP VOL 02 TIMEFIST
- BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON 8 LIBRARY HC VOL 03
- FEAR AGENT HC VOL 01
- GRANDVILLE BETE NOIRE HC
- GRENDEL OMNIBUS TP VOL 02 LEGACY
- STAR WARS DAWN O/T JEDI TP VOL 01 FORCE STORM
- TARZAN RUSS MANNING YEARS HC VOL 01
DC
- DC COMICS THE NEW 52 ZERO OMNIBUS HC
- DEADMAN TP VOL 03
- DOMINIQUE LAVEAU VOODOO CHILD TP VOL 01
- JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA OMEGA TP
- KAMANDI LAST BOY ON EARTH OMNIBUS HC VOL 02
Dial Books
- VLADIMIR TOD EIGHTH GRADE BITES GN
First Second
- SUMO GN
IDW
- ARCHIE BEST OF SAMM SCHWARTZ HC VOL 02
- GI JOE / TRANSFORMERS TP VOL 02
- GI JOE COBRA LAST LAUGH HC
- PARKER THE HUNTER SC
- ROCKETEER ADVENTURES HC VOL 02
- SNAKE EYES & STORM SHADOW TP VOL 01
- STAR TREK NEWSPAPER STRIP HC VOL 01
- STAR TREK NEXT GENERATION OMNIBUS
Image
- BODY BAGS TP VOL 02
- COURIERS COMPLETE COLLECTION TP
- ELEPHANTMEN TP VOL 05 DEVILISH FUNCTIONS
- NANCY IN HELL (ON EARTH) TP
- PERHAPANAUTS TP VOL 02 TREASURE OBSCURA
- REVIVAL TP VOL 01 YOU’RE AMONG FRIENDS
- WALKING DEAD OMNIBUS HC VOL 04
Keenspot
- DREAMLESS GN
Knockabout
- BIG BOOK OF MISCHIEF GN
Kodansha
- ATTACK ON TITAN GN VOL 03
- BATTLE ANGEL ALITA LAST ORDER TP VOL 16
- WALLFLOWER GN VOL 29
Last Gasp
- KRAMPUS THE DEVIL OF CHRISTMAS HC
Marvel
- CAPTAIN AMERICA BY ED BRUBAKER TP VOL 02
- CARNAGE USA TP
- DAREDEVIL BY MARK WAID TP VOL 02
- DEADPOOL DEAD HC
- ESSENTIAL X-FACTOR TP VOL 05
- INCREDIBLE HULK BY JASON AARON TP VOL 01
- JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY TP VOL 04 MANCHESTER GODS
- MARVEL MASTERWORKS GOLDEN AGE CAPTAIN AMERICA HC VOL 06
- NEW AVENGERS BY BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS TP VOL 03
- SPIDER-MAN DANGER ZONE PREM HC
Nobrow Press
- MEGASKULL GN
Red 5 Comics
- ATOMIC ROBO REAL SCIENCE ADV TP
Seven Seas Entertainment
- AMAZING AGENT LUNA GN VOL 08
- CERTAIN SCIENTIFIC RAILGUN GN VOL 06
- DANCE IN THE VAMPIRE BUND OMNIBUS VOL 01
- MAYO CHIKI GN VOL 01
SuBLime
- HIS FAVORITE GN VOL 02
Tor Books
- ROBERT JORDAN EYE OF THE WORLD HC VOL 01
Udon
- CAPTAIN COMMANDO GN VOL 02
Viz
- ITSUWARIBITO GN VOL 07
- KEKKAISHI GN VOL 35
Yen
- ALICE IN THE COUNTRY OF HEARTS MY FANATIC RABBIT GN VOL 01
- BLOOD LAD GN VOL 01
- CHOCOLAT GN VOL 08
- HIGURASHI WHEN THEY CRY GN VOL 20 MASSACRE ARC PT 2
- KAORU MORI ANYTHING & SOMETHING HC
- MAXIMUM RIDE TP VOL 06
- MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA GN VOL 14
- PANDORA HEARTS GN VOL 13
- PUELLA MAGI MADOKA MAGICA GN VOL 03
- RAIDERS GN VOL 09
- UGLIES CUTTERS GN
Zenescope
- MANKIND STORY OF ALL OF US TP VOL 02
- WAKING DREAMS END TP
Anime
AEsir
- Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi – Complete Collection
Funimation
- Level E – Complete Series
- Shakugan no Shana Season 2
Sentai
- Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee – Season One Collection 1
Viz
- Bleach – Season 15 Uncut Box Set
Keep in mind that titles are not always available from book vendors on the same dates as they are released in comic book stores, so not all of these will be available everywhere at the same time. Check with your vendors, just to be sure!
